Award for the best Master's theses in food chemistry
The € 1000 prize for the best Master's thesis in food chemistry at the University of Münster was awarded to Elisabeth Suermann at the 2023 Master's graduation ceremony. The prize, sponsored by the Wessling Group based in Altenberge, was presented by Dr. Henning Kuchenbuch as a representative of the company during the ceremony on 01.12.2023.
Antibacterial effect of disinfectants
In Elisabeth Suermann’s Master's thesis at the Institute of Hygiene at the University of Münster in the working group of Prof. Dr. Thorsten Kuczius in cooperation with the Institute of Food Chemistry, she investigated the use of chlorine dioxide to reduce bacterial contamination in food and drinking water. Microbially contaminated drinking water poses a problem for human health. If there is a complaint about the quality of drinking water due to bacterial contamination, various disinfectants are used as short-term measures to restore the drinking water supply. Ms. Suermann investigated in great detail the stability and sensitivity of various human pathogenic bacterial species to oxidatively active disinfectants such as chlorine dioxide and to quaternary ammonium compounds such as benzalkonium chloride. This is often used as a preservative, e.g. in medicines, as a disinfectant for instruments and surfaces and for hand disinfection.
Chlorine dioxide also effective against benzalkonium chloride-resistant bacteria
After only a short exposure time, all bacteria tested developed a tolerance to benzalkonium chloride and were no longer inactivated. However, these tolerant microorganisms were only slightly more stable to chlorine dioxide, which has a different mechanism of action, than benzalkonium chloride. The effect of chlorine dioxide as a disinfectant was therefore also sufficient for the tolerant bacteria. Elisabeth Suermann’s series of tests and results impressively demonstrated how important it is to change disinfectants regularly in order to avoid bacterial tolerance and resistance.